Number of million-pound properties soars despite slump

Despite signs that the UK property market is slowing once again, it seems bricks and mortar still has the capacity to make some of us rich. According to Santander, the number of million-pound properties in the UK has increased by a staggering 393 per cent in the past decade.

The research reveals that there are 132,000 residential homes worth more than £1m in Britain, up from 27,000 in 2000. About 78 per cent (103,000) of these million-pound homes are in Greater London, with the capital's SW post code claiming nearly three in 10 of the nation's millionaire properties. Postcodes in London and the Home Counties occupy the top 10 places in the million-pound property league table. Edinburgh is the first non-South-east area in the league, coming in at 11th place.

The number of million-pound-plus properties has recovered dramatically since the market crash of 2008. Before the credit crunch there were 147,000 million-pound properties; by late 2009 this had slumped to 104,000. Since then, prices are almost back to 2008 levels.

"It's amazing how fast million-pound-plus property prices have recovered since the dark days of mid-2008 when the market experienced significant price reductions," said Nigel Lewis, an analyst at property website Primelocation.com.